Oregon child care regulators imposed first-of-their-kind restrictions Thursday on a Hillsboro day care where an infant died Jan. 6.

The Office of Child Care found a “serious danger to the health and safety of children” and ordered Mrs. Williams Childcare, operated by Jeannette Williams, to stop caring for children younger than 2. Regulators also ordered the 24/7 provider to watch over children who are asleep at all times and to increase staffing beyond the baseline required by law.

The order describes the emergency license restrictions as “a reasonable precaution to protect children in the care of the facility.” State lawmakers approved a bill last year that gave the Office of Childcare the authority to impose emergency conditions. The measure was requested by Gov. Kate Brown.

The restrictions imposed on Mrs. Williams Childcare are the first handed down under the new law, spokeswoman Melanie Mesaros said.

Regulators investigating the infant’s death found a “serious violation” of safe-sleep rules after learning the baby was put to sleep in a play yard with a stuffed animal attached to a pacifier, the order said. Only a pacifier can be in a crib where an infant is sleeping.

The investigation into the exact cause of the 3-month-old’s death continues as police await final autopsy results, Hillsboro Police spokesman Sgt. Eric Bunday said Friday.

The child care remained closed for nearly two weeks after the baby died. Williams told regulators she planned to start caring for children again starting Saturday, according to the emergency order. An Office of Childcare official signed off on the new restrictions two days before the day care was set to reopen.

In the past, regulators could only move to suspend a provider’s license. Officials said they needed more enforcement tools to make sure day cares are operating safely.

Williams was first licensed to care for children in 2014. The license allows her in-home day care to take in as many as 16 children at a time.

The new restrictions include placing all children to sleep in the home’s family room. That’s a change from past practice at Mrs. Williams Childcare, according to policies posted to its website. The policies say children usually sleep overnight in a separate bedroom.

Mrs. Williams Childcare must also always have one more caregiver on staff than required by state rule.

The new law gives Williams the right to request an administrative hearing about the emergency restrictions placed on her license, which will remain in effect until “additional information becomes available that necessitates a reevaluation.”

Before the law took effect, state regulators often asked or forced providers to shut down in the immediate aftermath of a child’s death. The suspensions sometimes became permanent. At least two of the four licensed day cares where infants died in 2017 and 2018 never reopened.

No children died at a licensed Oregon day care in 2019.